15 September 2018 – In Celebration of International Coastal Cleanup Day, The Project Nelson Mandela Bay Clean City Task Team joined hands with volunteers to clean up Brighton Beach in Deal Party, Port Elizabeth. Volunteers benefited from an educational talk about recycling and each participant received two bags, one for recyclables and one for general waste. Emmy Nxayeka, Schools Project Coordinator from The Waste Trade Company sponsored the talk, and focused on the benefits of recycling and the damage caused to marine life by plastic pollution. “Recycling offers us the opportunity to avoid sending waste to landfill or dumping illegally,” Emmy explained, “furthermore we save natural resources, as these products can become something new”.

Bayworld curator, Ruth Wright, assists with sea turtle rehabilitation and has often found that animals get entangled in plastic and can also ingest a lot of plastic. “People need to be made aware of the harmful effects of plastic pollution and the pain inflicted on marine life as a result of negligence,” she said.

Approximately 70 volunteers attended the cleanup, and 120 bags of waste were collected from the beach and surrounding public areas. “We believe that every cleanup is an opportunity to educate the public about responsible waste management,” said Kay Hardy, Project NMB Clean City Task Team coordinator, “every individual should take responsibility for their own waste, and it’s really all about doing the right thing.”

The event concluded with an interesting surfing demonstration led by Alfonso Peters from Waves for Change, an organization that offers an award winning Surf Therapy Programme. “We have found that surfing is a great way to engage with children, who often open up and share their challenges with us, we would like to thank Project NMB for arranging this cleanup and for inviting us, “ said Peters, “keeping our oceans clean is very important to us and we encourage all to continue saving the waves!”

Project NMB would like to thank Greencycle, The Waste Trade Company, NMBM, Xtreme Projects and Waves for Change for their sponsorship and assistance in making the cleanup a successful event. – Vicky du Toit